Preview: Tryst

It is the year 2900 AD and war has broken out between the humans and the synthetic Zali on the lone planet Ishtonia IV. Both species had been working together for the mining and processing of a rare compound called Lohum. But now each sees the other as a threat.

That is the setting for the upcoming RTS Tryst. Developed by BlueGiant Interactive, the new IP seems to be heavily influenced by Blizzard’s own sci-fi strategy title Starcraft II. But while on the surface this may be true the developer has provided their own spin on the game to make it stand on its own amongst the RTS giants.

The goal being to create a game that appeals to both skilled and unskilled players with short, quick matches.

Shhh, it'll all be over soon

The setup is simple. There are only two races to choose from: the humans and the Zali. The human faction is easy to figure out concerning structures, units, and abilities. With the Zali it requires a bit more time and effort – since the learning curve is a bit steeper – to learn the ins and outs of their capabilities but, once accomplished, you find that they are also a solid race to play as well.

Once you’ve figured out the races and how to best play them Tryst then offers a few curveballs that differentiate it from other RTS games. First is limited ammo. Units can run out of ammo and be unable to attack until you can find a backup generator or return to your own base to rearm. Which transitions to another curveball in that the resource points in the game are capturable.
Instead of scouting, building a base, and then creating units to farm them there are structures you capture which, once under your control, automatically provide resources. This creates a dilemma of players having to leave units to protect these points or risk the enemy quickly grabbing them up and disrupting the flow of minerals needed to continue building units and upgrades.

The inclusion of these resource nodes have the potential to birth new strategies.

In addition, units can receive a sizable defensive bonus by taking cover behind barriers. This makes army placement even more crucial when attacking and defending. But on top of all of this are the abilities each type of unit can be given.

Each unit has it's own set of options and abilities

As you upgrade buildings new units and abilities are unlocked through three tiers. These allow you to customize your units to give them certain advantages. There are two choices for each tier involving passive abilities such as an increase to damage, or active abilities like increasing your unit’s critical hit rate for a limited time that require you to hit a corresponding button to activate them.

These abilities, more than anything else, define what BlueGiant is trying to accomplish as they develop a game that provides a low entry barrier for the game, unlike Starcraft II. The passive abilities will appeal to those who don’t like to micromanage too much while those who do have the active abilities to draw upon. Yet neither sets of abilities unbalance the game too much in any way. A new player has a good chance of defeating a veteran player in shorter matches. Matches can last anywhere from around 12 to 30 minutes due to their fast pace and gameplay mechanics.

All in all Tryst has the capacity to be a solid addition to the RTS genre with its simple (yet complex) style that can appeal to both types of players.